Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple saw a new competitor enter the e-book market yesterday. Google launched its own e-bookstore, boasting more than three million titles. While paper book purists will very likely continue scoffing at the idea of electronic books, independent bookstores across the country are joining forces with Google on this venture, in hopes that it could bring some benefit to their businesses.

One such bookstore is Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon. Darin Sennett, Powell's director of strategic projects, says that since independent bookstores are usually not tech savvy, Google's e-bookstore provides the infrastructure for these bookstores to survive in the 21st Century.